Putin postpones ‘direct line’

The ‘direct line’ with Vladimir Putin this year is likely to take place either to the Day of Russia on June 12, or to the Day of the Protection of Children on June 1, reports Kommersant newspaper, referring to its ‘close to the Kremlin’ sources. In the Kremlin, the late date has been explained by the tight schedule of the head of state, but the director of Levada Center Lev Gudkov explained decision to postpone the meeting with press by mass protests that swept across Russia in late March, and which Putin “clearly does not want to talk about.”

“The topic of corruption is very explosive, it casts a shadow not so much on Dmitry Medvedev as on Vladimir Putin himself.” The corruption scandal around prime minister Dmitry Medvedev lucrative lifestyle based on investigation of Aleksei Navalny is not the only reason. “The film lay down on the negative moods already growing from below. According to my calculations, which are in fact undervalued, Only for the last two years there were 750-800 reports of corruption scandals, “Gudkov said.

Sociologist Igor Eidman is inclined to the same opinion – the Kremlin does not want the issues of corruption and protests to break through. He also shares in his blog the forecast: “Putin can try to” change the agenda “by means of the technology worked out in 2014 – to distract people from the protest movement with the help of a new foreign-policy military adventure. This is the biggest threat of the day.”